The invention relates to the use of an electromagnetic beam, a laser, used to interact with air molecules to heat and rarefy them. Physics and aerodynamics combine to artificially create a more preferred sonic condition over a wing.
In the preferred application, a laser can be shown down the leading edge of a rigid, narrow wing to the tip, heating thus rarefying the air through which the wing quickly passes. The air is re-directed--not suddenly as in striking the wing under normal conditions but more slowly through the width of the beam, leaving thinner (less dense) air to flow over the wing. This creates a higher density altitude, resulting in a lower indicated airspeed over the wing at any given true airspeed for the airplane as a whole. This creates a condition unfavorable for the formation of sonic boom.
This is preferable to other inventions which have been suggested in the past. Others do not work the same way and do not solve all the same problems, such as a device for ionizing then redirecting ions using their positive charge to a second charged device aft on the wing; electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis, which use electrostatic attractions to again re-direct air flow to a second charged device aft on the wing; and an electromagnetic force field to accelerate fluid rearward and push it aside. The principles of above inventions have some similarities to each other, but they are not like the Attenuator in that they do not significantly decrease initial relative wind impact with the hard, material leading edge of some structure or device, they do not use heat as the primary source of rarefication, and they are not single component/single stage devices. They're more mechanically complex, using such as multiple electrodes/terminals with different electrical charges or intensities, which are therefore more prone to failure.